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Winner Chris Lundy is joined by other top finishers for a toast following the 2017 Dipsea. - Sherry LaVars — Special to Marin Independent Journal

Chris Lundy, 46, of Sausalito crosses the finish line in Stinson Beach to win the Dipsea Race in 2017. She ran the last mile with a ligament torn from her knee. - Sherry LaVars — Special to Marin Independent Journal

When Chris Lundy finally won the 2017 Dipsea Race after many years of trying, she smiled and celebrated and enjoyed the moment she worked toward for so long.

At the time, nobody (not even Lundy) knew she won the race despite running the last mile with a ligament torn from her knee after taking a jolting step at the bottom of a hill. Despite that, she finished the 7.4-mile trail footrace from Mill Valley to Stinson Beach with a 20-second lead. Tough as nails, Lundy wasn’t going to let anything stop her party at the beach that Sunday one year ago.

“I’ve seen video of her where it happened,” second-place finisher Alex Varner said. “You can see her knee kind of give. She takes a couple hobbling steps on it to see if she can keep going. … It’s very impressive.”

After surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament, the Sausalito resident pushed her recovery from one stage to the next. Come Sunday, Lundy will be at the start line wearing the No. 1 bib earned by last year’s victory. The race, which is handicapped by age, gender and past performance, starts in downtown Mill Valley at 8:30 a.m.

“It was an odd way to win the Dipsea,” said Lundy, 47. “I was thrilled to win but I was surprised. … I had that incident with the knee but that’s how this race is. Sometimes there’s big enough gaps where things go wrong but you can still win.”

It happened at a dangerous spot runners know well. Lundy, who had finished second three other years, descended the final hill in first place, needing to just get onto Highway 1 and make the final turn before crossing the finish line. As her foot hit the hard road surface, she landed awkwardly.

“I don’t know what happened there,” said Lundy, who works as a veterinarian at San Francisco’s Pacific Heights SPCA. “All I did was run down the bank like I always do, hopped over the ditch. … Right when I hit the pavement, the ACL just snapped off. I’d never done that before. I didn’t know how bad it was.”

About two weeks later, Lundy had surgery on the knee that prevented her from running until January of this year. The toughness she displayed to claim the victory did not go unnoticed by the other top Dipsea runners.

“(Lundy) is as tough as they come and as solid as they come,” said Jamie Rivers, a Dipsea legend and one of only two people (along with her husband, Roy Rivers) to claim the triple crown of winning the Dipsea, Double Dipsea and Quad Dipsea races.

“I’ve had the pleasure of running with Chris recreationally as well as in the Dipsea for many, many years,” said Rivers, 67. “Every year she puts her best foot forward and goes 150 percent every time. She’s had many injuries yet comes back like a real trooper. On top of it all, she’s an absolutely delightful person.”

Lundy missed six months of running because of that injury, but she had also missed a good chunk of the previous year with a hamstring injury prior to her victory.

“I’m still not really back,” Lundy said. “I took six months off completely from running. I was able to start biking some and doing physical therapy but I didn’t run for six months. … I feel pretty good now. It takes about a year to come back from not running for that long.”

Although Varner and Jamie Rivers finished second and third, respectively, behind Lundy last year, they said they were both thrilled to see her finally break through and win after so many near misses. Varner, who has piled up seven Best Time trophies (one shy of the record) without crossing the finish line first, is hoping for a similar breakthrough this season.

“That was definitely my thought last year,” Varner said. “Lundy has been runner-up several times. She’s won a bunch of (Best Time trophies) on the women’s side. If there was someone who was going to finish in front of me, I’m happy it was her.”

Rivers was leading for most of the race last year, but she said she was happy to see that Lundy was the first person who ran her down.

“There is a sentiment among past winners and even people who haven’t run the races, when you see certain people knocking on the door,” Rivers said. “My husband Roy took second place twice. … People like Alex (Varner) are knocking on the door, being in second, third, fourth place for many years — we really want those people to break out and win, absolutely.”

For Lundy to try and go back to back, she’ll have to not only overcome her injury Sunday but also the dreaded one-minute winner’s penalty.

“I’ve heard through the grapevine that (Lundy is) going strong, so even with her penalty minute, I fully expect her to be in the (top 35) this year,” Rivers said. “Chris has been at it for many years. She knows what she’s doing. She knows what it takes.

“I think she has many more wins in her. Her first win won’t be her last win. Hopefully she’ll be able to garner many more. I know she’s capable of it.”